Archive for the 'Hoops' Tag Under 'UCLA' Category

January 31st, 2013, 4:16 pm by Ryan Kartje, The Orange County Register

LOS ANGELES — In brilliant flashes, short, yet astounding displays of offense have materialized on the court for UCLA this season, whether it be a smooth transition drive or a pick-and-popped 3-pointer.

This year's young, dynamic-yet-inconsistent Bruins are predicated on those moments. However fleeting, they've led them to wins over Arizona, Missouri, and Colorado – two of which came in difficult environments on the road. The Bruins have lived by their offensive efficiency, and died by it as well.

And on Wednesday night against USC – as has been the case since UCLA's win over Arizona – the Bruins were doomed by their undeniable lack of offensive efficiency. Since beating the Wildcats in Tucson, UCLA has shot just 35 and 38 percent from the field, respectively, in its last two games.

It seems the Bruins are mired in a shooting slump, and with three losses in five games, UCLA's regression on offense may be a threatening sign of a further fall on the horizon.

“Guys have been missing shots that usually they've been making,” said senior point guard Larry Drew II, who shot 3 of 11 from the field against the Trojans. “We've just got to get in the gym, get up more shots, focus more or whatever it may be. … We've been in a bit of a slump shooting-wise, and obviously it's affecting our games.”

January 31st, 2013, 2:23 pm by Ryan Kartje, The Orange County Register

Before Wednesday night's game -- the first matchup of Los Angeles' crosstown rivalry at renovated Pauley Pavilion -- I saw only one legitimate, explicable reason why UCLA might lose to the Trojans, a team that had just eight wins prior to Wednesday.

That reason? USC's big men. Both Dewayne Dedmon and Omar Oraby towered over the Bruins frontcourt, and if they could be effective on the offensive glass, UCLA might actually lose to their significantly less talented rival squad.

After only nine minutes, both had already committed two fouls and found themselves on the bench. USC went with a smaller lineup for the majority of the rest of the game -- a strategy that very clearly should have benefited UCLA. The only possible path I could've drawn to a loss for the Bruins already seemed unlikely.

But a funny thing happened after both players went to the bench: USC took the lead and didn't give it back.

The Bruins trailed at halftime. And for most of the second half. It wasn't until the very end that UCLA even tied the game up -- the Trojans dominating them on both sides of the ball. And if it weren't for the efforts of a flu-ridden Shabazz Muhammad in the second half, the Bruins would've been run out of their own building.

January 30th, 2013, 6:34 pm by Ryan Kartje, The Orange County Register

After fighting the flu for the past two days, UCLA leading scorer Shabazz Muhammad is expected to play tonight against USC. His father, Ron Holmes, told the Register that he's still "under the weather", despite his decision to play.

Forward Travis Wear's status, following a concussion against Arizona last Thursday, seems decidedly less certain, as a UCLA spokesperson said that Wear remains a "game-time decision".

January 30th, 2013, 2:46 pm by Ryan Kartje, The Orange County Register

Coming off of a loss -- its second in three games -- and with two players potentially not in the lineup, Bruins forward David Wear said on Tuesday that Wednesday's rivalry matchup with USC was a "must-win".

Against an 8-13 team, that should probably be assumed. But given the vexing up-and-down nature of this Bruins squad, nothing should be a surprise at this point. And if Shabazz Muhammad misses the game with the flu, well, then anything could be possible on Wednesday.

Here are three things to watch for Wednesday night:

1. Will Shabazz Muhammad play? And if he does, how effective will he be?

Could this be Muhammad's "Flu Game"? His teammates made it clear on Tuesday that they expect him to play -- even if he's still feeling under the weather. That could set up a pretty dramatic performance for UCLA's leading scorer -- a moment that could mark Muhammad in UCLA lore for a long time. Then again, it's a lot harder to play with the flu than it is without, and Muhammad isn't exactly Michael Jordan, so expecting his usual 18 points per game in those conditions might be asking too much. We know very little about whether Muhammad will play today, other than what his coach and teammates have told us, but I'd expect him to play -- and to struggle if he does.

January 29th, 2013, 5:16 pm by Ryan Kartje, The Orange County Register

Did the Bruins run out of gas against Arizona State on Saturday?

It's a possibility that UCLA coach Ben Howland acknowledged on Tuesday could've been the case after the Bruins lost in lopsided fashion to Arizona State, just days after the team's best victory of the season at Arizona.

“You could tell we were spent,” Howland said, “and maybe some of that was that I pushed them too hard last Monday.”

That Monday practice, Howland continued, involved what he described as “two hours and 45 minutes of running”. The Bruins weren't affected much against the Wildcats, but looked the part of a tired team in Tempe, losing the rebounding battle by 20 boards and settling for bad jump shots.

Grueling conditioning, more so than ever before in Howland's career, has been a staple of UCLA's practices this season, as the Bruins continue to run a much higher tempo offense than in previous seasons under Howland.

January 29th, 2013, 5:04 pm by Ryan Kartje, The Orange County Register

LOS ANGELES — UCLA freshman forward Shabazz Muhammad was running a 101-degree fever on Tuesday, showed tell-tale signs of having the flu – nausea, vomiting, etc. – and missed his first practice since being cleared by the NCAA three games into the season. Yet when asked about the status of their sick teammate, UCLA players made it clear that they believe he's a near-lock to be in the starting lineup against USC on Wednesday.

“I think he'll play,” fellow freshman Kyle Anderson said of the Bruins' leading scorer. “He's extremely competitive. He wouldn't miss a game like this for the world. I'm actually surprised he missed practice; that's just how competitive he is.”

Freshman Jordan Adams and junior David Wear echoed the same sentiment, citing Muhammad's competitiveness as reason why he'll play in UCLA's rivalry game against the Trojans, even if he's still under the weather.

But UCLA coach Ben Howland isn't as sure about his star player's status and explained that it's “too early to say” whether Muhammad will be in Wednesday's lineup. And if he does play, there's no guarantee that he'll be playing at 100 percent, which Howland acknowledged he'll have to adjust to, if necessary.

“We'll see how he feels tomorrow,” Howland said. “I think it's too early to say, whether or not he'll play or how he'll do. But he's a tough kid.”

January 29th, 2013, 10:46 am by Ryan Kartje, The Orange County Register

With one important Bruin already day-to-day, UCLA was already looking shorthanded for their Wednesday rivalry game with crosstown rival USC. But Tuesday brought even more uncertainty for the Bruins' rotation.

UCLA freshman Shabazz Muhammad, who leads the team in scoring with 18.2 points per game, will miss Tuesday's practice with a stomach illness that he came down with on Monday night. His status for Wednesday's game remains unclear.

The Bruins were already suffering for depth after forward Travis Wear missed Saturday's loss to Arizona State with a concussion. He remains day-to-day, per UCLA's last update, after only taking part in conditioning and shooting drills on Monday.

Wear and Muhammad make up almost half of the Bruins' scoring output, averaging a combined 30.2 points and 10.6 rebounds per game.

January 28th, 2013, 5:27 pm by Ryan Kartje, The Orange County Register

Ladies and gentlemen, we have a new No. 1 atop the Pac-12.

After Arizona's reign ended with an upset loss to UCLA on its homecourt, the spot was open for the taking. And as one of the nation's most consistent teams in the past month, Oregon was waiting patiently to ascend to the top spot. The Wildcats are still ranked higher than the Ducks in the AP poll, No. 8 compared to No. 10 -- the first time the Pac-12 has had two top ten teams since the final poll of 2008 -- but in these rankings, it's Dana Altman's crew that has taken a stranglehold of the conference.

1. OREGON (18-2, 7-0, Last week: 2)

There are few people who would argue with putting Oregon on top, as so many of the conference's coaches have already acknowledged that the Ducks are in the driver's seat for the Pac-12 title. After all, Oregon took care of the conference's three of the four other Tournament-caliber teams in Arizona, UCLA, and Arizona State, while Colorado still awaits. The Buffs may be the only thing standing between Oregon and a regular season title.

January 28th, 2013, 1:11 pm by Ryan Kartje, The Orange County Register

It appears that the AP poll voters didn't look too kindly upon UCLA's loss to Arizona State last Saturday, just a few days after the Bruins' upset win over No. 6 Arizona. Again, UCLA is unranked in the top 25 poll, pulling in only 34 votes -- good for 29th in the nation.

The Bruins presumably would have been voted into top 25 if they hadn't played Saturday's game, as their Thursday win had the college basketball landscape buzzing. But the weekend letdown in Tempe -- the second loss in three games for UCLA -- seems to have been enough to silence those who were so high on the Bruins just a few days before.

Do they deserve that kind of punishment though?

Polls are often a "what have you done for me lately" sort of deal, so it's no surprise that the memory of UCLA's marquee win over the Wildcats seems to have dissipated somewhat. That still doesn't change how important the victory was in the long run, and it'll certainly come up around March. But for now, the polls haven't looked too kindly on the Bruins this week -- or for the entire season, for that matter.

As for the rest of the Pac-12, Arizona only dropped two spots to No. 8 -- kind of strange, if you ask me -- and Oregon moved all the way up to No. 10.